In the main it’s caused by lack of ventilation particularly if the warm air hits a cold surface. I suspect that the mould comes from airborne “ bugs” and maybe our breaths.
Showers seem to have problems as well as kitchens. Some surfaces are more prone than others.
The marble type wall tiles in our shower are absorbent in some areas and I have to clean off mould about every 4 weeks or so.
Our house gets mould on the bottoms of bedroom windows and the lounge French door/ windows.
This is only when it’s cold outside so usually Dec to March.
The French doors/ widows are worst due to their height as more cold air falls down to floor level. Regretfully the bottom of these are not very well insulated, added to that the curtains restrict air circulation.
The bedroom window get mild mould with the West facing window the worst as that get the the brunt of bad weather.
On a south facing window two of the three double glazed unit are blown even though they were replaced.
To clean off mould there are mould cleaners but beware of any containing bleach for some surfaces.
There are various devices or materials ( salt) that will absorb moisture from the air.
However that only way to cure it is to have walls covered with insulation backed plasterboard with studding or spot adhesives to attach to the walls. Done that to over 20 properties in the last 19 years.
Don’t forget floors and ceilings required insulation. we often found that there were gaps where the floor joists went into the walls and you then got a draught from the wall cavity due to the cement falling out on old buildings.
Note that each property may require a different solution and all usually expensive but health safety caps all.
The old barn that we live in had 15 to 18” outer walls so there is 3-4” of insulation between studding and the plasterboard and it’s 15 mm insulation.
It’s now 10 years since we moved into our barn conversion so I’m out of touch with the latest “tricks”.
Allan C.
Message Thread
« Back to index | View thread »